22.04.2011, 01:10
"Sometimes eight goals are not enough"

More than 9,000 tickets sold for the Quarterfinals clash between Löwen and Montpellier.

"Sometimes eight goals are not enough"

A draw against Kiel, a draw against Barcelona, a draw against Zagreb – Rhein Neckar Löwen seem to be the experts for ties on home ground.

But before the first leg of the Quarterfinals of the VELUX EHF Champions League all "Lions" are aware that another draw could not be enough to fulfil their dream of reaching the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne for the first time ever.

"We have to give all we can – and we have to be warned of these top class opponents," Löwen coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson mentioned before the next CL home match against Montpellier.

Over 9,000 tickets have already been sold for this first ever duel of both teams. "We need the support of our spectators – as they are our eighth player. We need them to produce a good foundation for the return match," manager Thorsten Storm hopes for a nearly sold-out SAP Arena in Mannheim.

Another of hope of management and coach is the comeback of goalkeeper Henning Fritz who missed the last league match due to a back injury. "I hope I will be able to return," Fritz said.

His opinion about the opponent: "Montpellier is really hard to play especially because of their offensive defence system. We will have to keep moving a lot."

But Fritz does not have any dream result for the first leg: "The bigger the margin of our victory, the better it is, but a too big margin could make us become less concentrated in the second match. Then maybe eight goals are not enough, as you suddenly lose with ten. Everything has happened before in the world of handball."

Defence specialist Oliver „The Rogg" Roggisch sees "all aces in our hands for the rest of the season, as we currently play on a really high level. We have the great chance to win at least one title – the German Cup seems to be the easier task compared with the VELUX EHF Champions League. But we live our dream of reaching Cologne."

TEXT: Björn Pazen